Stop marker for conveyers



Dec 3, M. ROSENTHAL STOP MARKER FOR CONVEYERS Filed April 15, 1938 ILAMorrw saw/Lab INVENTOR.

H15 ATTORNE Patented Dec. 3, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" s'rorMARKERFOR. CONVEYERS Morris Itosenthal, Chicago, Ill.

Application April 15, 1938, Serial No. 202,284

. 4 Claims. This invention devices, and more adapted for use withconveyers having automatic control means operable by an object carriedby 5 the conveyer.

J An object of this invention is the provision of a marker adapted to beplaced upon a conveyer to followor precede a batch of articlesforpurposes of counting; identification and segregation from other objectsfed to the conveyer.

Another object is the provision of a marker adapted not only to identifyarticles as aforesaid, but 'alsoprovided with means for actuatingautomatic control mechanism whereby the conveyer may be started andstopped dependent upon the absence or the presence of the marker alongthe conveying path. 'Another'objeot is the provision of a marker forusewith automatic ironing machines of the type having aconveying webmovable relative to a series of ironing rollers, the marker being in theform of a substantially flat fabric member having a plurality of controlactuating elements secured thereto, the control elements being arrangedtdprovide a degree of flexibility for the marker so that the same mayeasily negotiate the several ironing rollers. Still another object isthe provision of a marker for use with laundry ironing machines havingau- ,tomatic control means including a magnetic member actuated by thepresence of a magnetically attractable substance, said marker includinga plurality of substantially rigid, magnetically attractable elementsarranged between thefolds of a fabric and in spaced relation to eachother so as toiflex along lines transverse to the normal path ofmovement of the marker on the conveyer. Another object is a marker foruse withi'roningj;;machines including a conveyor web and a plurality oftransverseironing rollers, the marker including a" pair of fabricmembers sewn or otherwise secured together and having a pocket .or likemeans arranged therein to receive an identification member, togetherwith a plurality of elongated, magnetically attractable .membersarranged in parallel fabric members and each secured in pockets formedin the latter such that the portion of the marker in which themagnetically attractable members are disposed will be flexible alonglines parallel with the marker may flex inits movement relative to saidironing rollers. 1

Otherobjects and novel aspects of the invention reside in certaindetails of form, location and pertains broadly to conveying particularlyto a form of stop spaced relation between the,

members and such that the.

operation of the arrangement hereinafter described in view of thedrawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the discharge end of an ironing conveyorwith which the novel marker may be used; 5

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the marker;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section along line 3-3 of the marker 'of Fig. 2;while Fig." 4 is a fragmentary perspective of theidentification-receiving means or pocket. 10 The present invention is inpart a continuation of the invention shown and claimed in my 00- pending.United' States application, Serial No. 202,283, filed of even dateherewith, the improvements herein relating particularly tothe actuat-'15 ing means or marker for use with an automatic control device of thegeneric class described in theaforesaid copending application.

,Referring to Fig.; 1, the device of the present invention, is adaptedparticularly for use with 20 conveyer devices in general, and especiallythose employed in laundry ironing machines such as described intheaforesaid copending application, such a machine desirably, though'notnecessarily, including a plurality of guide and ironing rollers 5 I6 andI8 journaled in frame means I5 and arranged .to; drive and guide aconveying web I! byumotor means (not shown) controlled by an automaticdevice 30 such as described in detail in the aforesaid copendingapplication.

The automatic control device 30 is of a typ adapted to be-operated by anarticle carried by the conveying web, said article being provided withmeans for affecting an elementjin the controlmechanism in a particularmanner not accomplished ordinarily by other objects or articlescarriedby the conveyer. e y

. For example, the control device 30 may include a m-agnetic elementarranged 'to actuate a switch' for. the purpose-of controlling the drivemeans for 40 the roller and conveying mechanism of the machine with'which it is associated; the control device being actuated by amagnetically attractable substance carried by the conveyer. t

In'the illustrative embodiment shown in Fig. 1, 45 the'ironing machineis supplied with laundered articles atits receiving or feed end (notshown) toward the extreme right of the discharge end of the machine asseen in Fig. 1, there being a discharge, table 26 onto which the ironedarticles so I inclined discharge portion of the webbing I! just abovethe table 26, and the control device is arranged beneath the portion 25of the webbing close to one side thereof, so that articles carried onthe webbing at that particular side will be moved closely over thecontrol device.

The articles to be ironed are preferably fed into the ironing machine inbatches, each batch being kept separate from the other, and as the lastarticles of each batch are fed into the ironing machine by an attendantat the feeding end, a segregating marker in the form of a flat, flexiblemember shaped like a pad is fed into the machine so that the attendantat the discharge end is apprised, upon appearance of the marker at hisend, of the fact that the last articles of a particular batch have beenreceived.

In addition, the marker such as described above is provided withmagnetically attractable means arranged in the marker to provide adegree of flexibility for the latter and effective when the markerpasses over the control device 30 to actuate the magnetic control meanstherein so as to stop the ironing machine substantially at the time thelast articles of the batch immediately preceding the marker aredelivered onto the discharge table 26.

In Fig. 2, I show a preferred form of construction of a marker adaptedto accomplish the foregoing objects, the marker comprising a pair ofelongated rectangular fabric members 5| and 52 provided with suitablehems around their marginal "edge portions and secured together alongthese edge portions by any means such as stitching, cementing, or thelike.

Controlactuating means in the form of a plurality'of elongated members53' are disposed in spaced parallel relation between the top and bottomfolds or members 5l and 52 ofthe marker, and the marginal edge portionsare secured together as aforesaid to form a unitary marker generallyindicated at 50, the marker being flexible along. parallel linestransverse to the length thereof, the marker being intended to be fedinto the ironing machine with its head portion 54 foremost. 1 i

Desirably, the space between the several control elements 53 is stitchedas at 55 so as to segregate the several elements without destroying thelateral flexibility of the marker.

Near the upper end or head portion 54 of the marker, there is providedmeans for affixing or carrying an identification element, such means inthe present instance being in the form of a pocket 55 formed by asuitable slit substantially flanked by stitching 5'! between the top andbottom fabric members 5i and 52. This pocket 56 is adapted to receive acard or tag 58 (Fig. 4)

identifying the batchor articles of laundry which I follow or precedethe marker through the conveying means. In the presentinstance, thecontrol elements 53 are desirably in the form of rigid, elongated barsof iron or other highly permeable, paramagnetic material, each bar beingslipped into-a pocket extending transversely across the marker 59 andformed by the parallel stitching 55;

If desired, the elements 53 may include a plurality of small sections orsquares 60 of iron or like material, as illustrated by the form of thebottom-most row 53 of magnetic elements seen in Fig. 2. In such' a case,it will appear that the marker may'flex both laterally andlongitudinally in the region of the control elements, and crossstitching similar to the stitching'55 may be provided betweenconfronting edge portions of the several magnetically attractableelements 60.

Also, the magnetic insert may be in the form of relatively thin sheetiron or a plurality of thin sheets or lamlnations, or, if desired, ironfilings may be secured in the marker to provide the magneticallyattractable actuating means.

In operation, as the last or preceding articles of a particular batchare fed into the ironer or other conveying machine, a marker 50 isinserted with its head portion 54 foremost and an identification card 58in the pocket 56, the marker being placed on that side of the machine atwhich the control device 30 is situated. As the marker moves over thecontrol device 30, the magnetically attractable elements 53 affect amagnetic control element in the device 30 for the purpose of stoppingthe machine, this latter action occurring preferably (depending uponadjustment of the control mechanism 39) substantially at the time thehead portion 54 of the marker moves onto the discharge table 26. Theattendant at the discharge end when preceding lot isfinished, thenremoves the identification card 58 and places the same on record with,the batch which is following or preceding the marker. The marker is thenremoved from the conveyer webbing l1, thereby starting the ironer orconveyer, and is returned by any convenient means to the feeding end ofthe machine for re-use.

It will thus appear that the invention provides a simple marker for usein conveying machines and the like, and one which is inexpensive tomanufacture; relatively sturdy, and wear-resisting. Moreover, the markeris of a type adapted to carry identification means with it as well asmeans for actuating automatic control mechanism, the marker, however,being useful-by virtue of its construction and identification carryingmeans, apart from the control'operating feature heretofore described andcharacterizing the marker.

Since various modifications may be made in the illustrative embodimentto accomplish the objects'heretofore recited without departing from thespirit of the invention, it is to be understood that the appended claimsinclude all modifications and changes in form, location, or mode ofoperation of the preferred embodiment set forth herein.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is 1-. Amark'er for use with devices of theclass described, said marker being shaped like a pad and having aplurality of substantially rigid paramagnetic elements arranged inparallel spaced relation in the plane of said marker, and means on saidmarker for receiving removable identifi cation means adapted to identifyarticles following or preceding said marker in a conveyer system.

2. A marker in the form of a pad constructed from a pair of flexiblefabric members secured together with a plurality of elongatedmagnetically attractable elements arranged in spaced parallel relationsubstantially in the plane of the marker, said marker being flexible inthe region of said elements along the lines of parallelism therebetween,and a pocket formed in saidmarker and adapted to receive anidentification means for movement with the marker in a conveyer systemoperably controlled by said elements. 1

3. A marker for the purpose setforth, said marker comprising oppositefabric portions having a plurality of paramagnetic elements arranged inparallelism there'between with means securing said opposite fabricportions together between adjoining paramagnetic elements such that thelatter are segregated in a plurality of pockets, said fabric portionsbeing secured together to confine said paramagnetic elements in saidpockets, and means on said marker for receiving identification means tobe carried with the marker in a conveying system which said paramagneticelements are adapted to control responsive to movement of the marker insaid conveying system.

4. A stop marker for use with ironing machines employing a conveyer webadapted to bear against an ironing roller and equipped with a stoppingcontrol adapted to be actuated by the presence on said web of amagneto-conductive substance, said marker comprising a pad of yieldablematerial arranged and constructedto be moved by said conveyer webbetween the latter and an ironing roller, said pad having confinedwithin its body a magneto-conductive material.

MORRIS ROSENTHAL.

